Just two sour footnotes after the genuine joy and sense of hope that many of us liberals felt after America had the sense to vote in a Democrat for President (especially a black one).
The first sour note comes from a South Carolina Roman Catholic priest who has told his parishioners that they should refrain from receiving Holy Communion if they voted for Barack Obama because the Democratic president-elect supports abortion, and supporting him ‘constitutes material co-operation with intrinsic evil.’
The Rev. Jay Scott Newman said in a letter distributed on Sunday to parishioners at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Greenville that they are putting their souls at risk if they take Holy Communion before doing penance for their vote.
“Our nation has chosen for its chief executive the most radical pro-abortion politician ever to serve in the United States Senate or to run for president,” Newman wrote, referring to Obama by his full name, including his middle name of Hussein.
“Voting for a pro-abortion politician when a plausible pro-life alternative exits constitutes material cooperation with intrinsic evil, and those Catholics who do so place themselves outside of the full communion of Christ’s Church and under the judgment of divine law. Persons in this condition should not receive Holy Communion until and unless they are reconciled to God in the Sacrament of Penance, lest they eat and drink their own condemnation.”
On the one hand, I can see that if you believe in the inspiration of a set of diverse ancient texts written by men that you would want to warn your parishoners of mortal danger. As the good book says about taking part in the rememberance meal: “For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh judgment to himself, not discerning the body of the Lord” (1Corinthians 11:29). However, I have several problems with this.
Leaving for another time the debate about whether the claim that the good book’s inspiration actually stands up to rigorous analysis, AND leaving for another time the debate about whether elderly single men should try to interfere in a young woman’s life-changing choices about whether or not to have a child, AND leaving for another time the theological debate about whether a clump of cells has the same rights as a fully grown adult, AND leaving for another time the debate about whether the church has the right to try blackmail individual decisions of conscience, I do want to raise the notion of consistency.
The call for Democrat voters to do penance before receiving Communion might have a ounce more credibility if, in the same letter, Rev. Newman also called for Republican voters to do penance for supporting a foreign policy of dubious morality resulting in the death of thousands of innocent civilians, and for supporting an extremely dubious record on human rights and environmental care. Arguably the latter issue could ultimately hasten the destruction of the entire planet.
The second sour note comes from an article by Mark Oppenheimer in Slate reporting the results of a survey informing us that although America may have faced-up to and got (gotten) over the black issue, it still cannot cope with people who look at the absurdity of religious faith and walk away from it. In a list of ‘minority’ groups that are most likely to become President, atheists come last, after Women (hardly a minority), Mormons, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Gays and Lesbians.
Despite America’s espousal of, and violent attempts to propagate freedom, aspects of its society (to an outside observer, at least) really do seem to have more in common with a theocratic state than with a liberal democracy. The religious police may not imprison you for life for daring to question the Koran, but if you declare yourself an atheist, you will be subject to public oprobium, and at present, will find it extremely difficult to get elected to public office. Let’s hope there will be some cultural change during the Obama presidency.
(Sources: The Daily Breeze, and Friendly Atheist.)
The repenting thing always winds me up. Basically it’s fine to do anything as long as you say sorry afterwards? I think not. Not that in this case there was any repenting that needed doing of course.
For me, the uplifting news that Obama had got in, was marred by the news that came through on the same day, that California voted “yes” on Proposition 8 making same-sex marriage illegal in that State.
There we all were celebrating the fact that a black man had made it to the very top, and yet at the same time, in the same country, something else so backward and discriminatory had happened.
RB said, There we all were celebrating the fact that a black man had made it to the very top, and yet at the same time, in the same country, something else so backward and discriminatory had happened.
My genuine pleasure over Obama’s election has been overshadowed by this evidence that we still have so much farther to go in recognizing basic, decent human rights. From what I’ve been reading over the past week, though, I have a feeling that gays are starting to say, “Never again!” in a very loud, united voice.
On a more positive note, think about all the money that was spent by Prop 8 supporters to promote their cause, yet they still only won by 4%. Perhaps victory is closer than we think.
I really am proud that people went with their conscience this time.
It also saddens me greatly that the Catholics are continuing to go for this anti-abortion and anti-birth control movement. It is a church that is unwilling to look into reality and move with that reality.
There was once a time when we had orphanages. A number of them were run by Catholics. We don’t need that again. We do not need that added to our cycle of poverty.
There is of course these days a considerable number of Catholics who openly oppose the teaching of their Church on matters such as abortion and contraception. I think this number is likely to increase rather than decrease.
That being so, statements of the kind made by Newman are likely to alienate such people even further and to bring more into the opposition fold. Without realizing it, then, he is hammering nails into the coffin. Good for him: carry on, sir!
Atheists in the US, yes, well. They may be a scorned minority (though there are far more of them than actually show their heads above the parapet) but I think there are signs of increasing vigour in their camp.
I don’t take too much notice of polls that tell us how low this or that group falls in public esteem, firstly, because these polls are often not conducted with the required rigour and, secondly, because public opinion is notoriously volatile. Who would have thought, when Bush Jr came to power, that at the end of his tenure a black man would be elected to succeed him?
I think there is a growing likelihood of a backlash against the religious right and its blatant interference in politics and if and when that happens, atheism could become the in- thing.
The problem, as always, is that religious believers tend to be organized and therefore to yell more loudly and effectively than atheists who, by their very philosophy, are disorganized. Not that I would have it otherwise, note, but it does mean that we have to work that little bit harder to make ourselves heard.
when a plausible pro-life alternative exits
There was an alternative. That it was a plausible one I must disagree with the reverend.
The call for Democrat voters to do penance before receiving Communion might have a ounce more credibility if, in the same letter, Rev. Newman also called for Republican voters to do penance for supporting a foreign policy of dubious morality resulting in the death of thousands of innocent civilians, and for supporting an extremely dubious record on human rights and environmental care.
Extremely well said!
As a Catholic I respect the church’s teachings on a personal level. However to encourage catholics to vote for a president based on one issue is irresponsible and dangerous. The job of the president goes so far beyond just this issue, especially now when the ability of Americans to survive daily is at stake. Would George W. Bush have been the church’s candidate of choice if by some horrible chance he was Obama’s opponent.
Each person’s relationship and adherence to the tenets of their faith is personal. Responsible citizenship is voting for the best overall candidate not just the one that agrees with one point and excluding all else.
Telling persons that they must toe the line dictated by someone else (not according to their own knowledge, feelings, viewpoint) has proven repeatedly to be a dangerous path…Hitler, Communism, Jim Jones, slavery, racism etc.
The list is long where evil flourished for a time because of willful blindness or conformity without intelligence
Kevin
This is not an inconsistent statement. Abortion deals with the murder of millions, which is a very grave matter. While the Church is concerned about the environment, pollution is not nearly as serious a matter, and therefore, according to Church teaching, can only be a deciding factor in voting when the more grave moral matters are the same for both candidates. As for the war, there is such a thing as a just war, and an allowable war. A just war should, according to Church teaching, be supported by Catholics. An allowable war is when the Church does not see significant enough reasons to go to war for defense alone, but because of other factors still says it is ok for a country to go to war. This was the case in Iraq, because even though there turned out to be no conclusive evidence that there were weapons of mass destruction, U.S. forces still brought down one of the world’s most horrific regimes, guilty of, among other things, large scale genocide. Also, even if it was not justified to invade Iraq, that was not an issue in either election, as in 2000 no one (except the terrorists) saw it coming, and by 2004 it had already happened. I don’t think the war was a good idea, seeing as we should have conducted more intelligence first, but that wouldn’t have had a moral consequence in either of the last two elections. As for Kevin’s remarks, note that the Catholic Church was against Hitler, Communism, slavery, racism, suicide, etc. Hitler was very liberal on economics, and reportedly pretty good with the environment too. And yet, no one will say they would vote for Hitler, because we all recognize the terrible crime he committed. Somehow, almost no one, even most Catholics, seem to care about mass murder any more. I’m glad that Fr. Newmann did, and I expect many others to take a stand on these decisive issues in the near future.